Grained wood and method of graining same



Aug. 21, 1934. Q J ss 1,971,067

GRAINED WOOD AND METHOD OF GRAINING SAME Original Filed March 4. 1931 INVENTOR I ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 21, 1934 GRAINED WOOD AND METHOD OF GRAININ G SAME Charles J. Fess, Maplewood, N, J., assignor to Flood & Conklin 00., Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application March 4, 1931, Serial No. 520,158. Divided and this application August 19, 1933, Serial No. 685,858

-6 Claims.

This invention relates to the artificial graining of wood and has for its principal objects the simple, expeditious and economical reproduction upon various woods of an accurate and faithful simulation of the grain of another wood whereby the selected woods can be profitably employed in the production of furniture, pianos, trim and cabinet work and all of the advantages possessed by another wood, the grain of which has been simulated, are obtained and, in addition thereto, the advantages possessed by the selected wood, such as its ability to resist warping, its low cost, the reduction in wastage caused in matching up the grain and the like are retained, while at the same time the disadvantages of a poor appearance, due either to the fact of the substantial absence of grain or the fact that the natural grain thereof is unattractive or undesirable, is avoided.

I am aware that it has been proposed to utilize, either in the graining of wood or metal, a negative comprising a natural wood panel whose grain corresponds to that of the wood, the grain of which it is desired to imitate, and also that it has been proposed to apply to a wood or metal panel to be grained an opaque coat containing a solid pigment or color corresponding to the base or ground color desired in the finished panel. However, no one so far, as I am aware,'has been able to reproduce on a selected wood such a perfect and accurate simulation of the grain of another wood as is accomplished by the method hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawing, in which I have illustrated a finished wood panel prepared in accordance with my invention,

Figure 1 is a plan view; and Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail section of such a panel.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably proceed as follows:---

The wood panel or wood article to be grained, such for example, as a panel of maple, is prepared as follows:

1. The panel is first planed, scraped and smoothed to an even flat surface and is then stained with a soluble stain, such for example as an aniline color dissolved in water, alcohol or oil, which stain is of such' a color that its efiect after application to the article is to make the latters general color tone match the base color of the wood, which it is intended to simulate. After such stained surface is dry, a thin coat of shellac or other generally used sealer is then applied to the stained surface in order not only to enhance or intensify theappearance of the stain so applied but also, to produce after the sanding thereof, a level surface in order to insure perfect contact between the surface and the roller in the transfer process hereinafter described.

2. To prepare said graining plate, a panel of the natural wood, whose grain it is desired to simulate, is first planed, scraped and smoothed to an even fiat surface. The'surface of the wood is then saturated with a 10% aqueous solution of borax heated to about 100" 0. While the wood is still wet it is brushed with a stiff bristle or fibre brush, the surface being scrubbed against the grain and the bristles worked well into the pores. The surface is then rinsed thoroughly with water, allowed to dry and is finely sanded with sandpaper, whereupon a coat of pyroxylin lacquer is applied to such smooth sanded surface to seal the same and prevent penetration of the graining ink into the pores.

3. After the lacquer coat has dried, the said graining plate is first completely coated with a graining ink, the surplus ink is scraped off with a doctor blade in the well known manner and then a soft elastic roller, known as a transfer roller, is then first rolled over such plate whereby the inked graining pattern thereon is transferred to the peripheral surface of the roller.

The graining pattern picked up by the soft transfer roll is then immediately transferred in the well known manner to the prepared surface of the wood to be grained, the same being ac-- complished by a single pass of the roll over such surface, while applying to such roll sufficient pressure to effect intimate contact between the engaging surfaces and to thereby obtain a substantially complete transfer of the ink from the grain portions of the plate to the receptive surface of the wood to be grained. Following the transfer of the desired grained pattern to the prepared surface of the wood as aforesaid, it is desirable that one or more protective coats of transparent varnish, preferably at least two coats thereof, be applied in accordance with the well known practice in this art.

In the drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates the original wood of the panel after the same has been planed, scraped and smoothed to an even, flat surface. The reference letter a designates the transparent stain which is applied to the wood, prepared as aforesaid, to impart to the wood the same base color as that of the wood which it is desired to simulate. The reference letter b designates the sanded sealer coat as a thin coat of shellac, which is applied to thestained surface in order to enhance the appearance of the stain and to insure perfect contact between such surface and the roller in the transfer process. The reference letter 0 designates the selected grained pattern applied to the sealed coat by the transfer roller; and the reference letters d and e designate any suitable finishing coats of varnish applied to protect the selected pattern.

The employment of a soluble and transparent coloring medium in the stain applied to the surface to be grained is an essential feature of the preparation of the wood for the reception of the graining pattern. Not only does this transparent stain accomplish the substantial masking or camoufiaging of the natural grain of such wood so selected, but at the same time I preserve, substantially unimpaired, the softness and brilliancy of depth of natural wood and the original tonal effect or light reflection and refraction from natural grain of the wood employed, such for exampleas maple, birch, plain sawed oak' and the like, selected. for the graining operation and as a consequence, the ultimate effect obtained is, unlike that obtained heretofore, distinguished with difficulty from a finished surface of the natural wood which has been imitated.

While I prefer to apply a thin coat of pyroxylin lacquer to the wood graining plate as aforesaid because of the fact that, owing to its tough ness and elasticity, even an extremely thin coat :thereof serves to offer permanent resistance to penetration of the graining inks applied to such plate into the pores of the walls of the ink receptacles thereof and, owing to the thinness of the film required, such film does not obscure or clog the ink-receiving cells of the graining plate.

Although I preferably employ a 10% solution of borax heated to a boiling temperature for the -treatment of the panel selected for the graining plate, borax solutions of other concentrations, such for example as a 5% concentration or even concentrations greater than 10% may be employed and the time of treatment would be varied accordingly. The borax isemployed because this substance, unlike strong alkalies, such as caustic soda, for example, does not tend to destroy or even substantially swell the wood fibres in the hard grain areas, while at the same time, it assists, as heretofore explained, in the elimination by the brushing operation of the pulp' and pulp areas, as well as the fibres overlying such areas. The principal advantage of the use of borax is that it does not destroy or make ragged the edges of the areas surrounding the pores. This is in contrast to the action of al f kalies. I

The shellac or like sealing coat, which is applied to seal the surface of the wood selected to be grained, is sanded or otherwise treated after such coat has dried in order to remove the glossy appearance and afford a receptive surface that will insure intimate union with the graining ink subsequently applied thereto by means of the transfer roller. Preferably, also, the stain employed is a water stain containing a watersoluble dye or coloring medium as such stain will, when a subsequent sealing coat of shellac in alcohol is applied thereto, tend to enhance or intensify the coloring effect of the stain so app ied.

Among the essential advantages obtained through the employment of my improved graining method are that it is possible to change the ground color and obscure or mask the natural grain of the wood to be artificially grained, without however, obscuring or losing the na u al tonal effect or inimitable wood appearance of depth and softness imparted thereby and upon this enhanced background to impose the more beautiful grain of the wood whose grain it is desired to imitate.

While I preferably employ the herein described wood graining plate for effecting the transfer of the desired grain to the surface prepared to receive the same, other graining plates, such as intaglio metal graining plates, whereon the graining pattern has been photographically reproduced, can be substituted therefor. Also various other changes within the scope of the appended claims may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth.

This application is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 520,158 filed March 4, 1931.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to obtain by United States Letters Patent is:

1. The method of simulating the grain of one wood upon that of another, which consists in first producing a smooth, even surface upon a selected piece of wood, staining such surface with a transparent solution of a soluble coloring matter to mask the grain of such surface and to simulate the base color of the surface of the wood whose grain it is desired to simulate, then sealing said surface with an ink resistant transparent coating that is capable of also sealing the pores and producing a level contact surface, then rendering said latter coating ink-receptive, then transferring to said treated surface by means of an elastic transfer roll the graining pattern of the wood which it is desired to simulate.

2. In the method of graining wood to simulate the grain appearance of another wood, the steps which consists in first providing a smooth, even surface on a piece of wood to be grained, masking of the natural grain by coloring such surface with a transparent stain of a predetermined shade, sealing the pores thereof against ink penetration, rendering said sealed surface ink-receptive and then transferring thereto by means of an elastic transfer roll, the graining pattern of of the wood which it is desired to simulate.

3. A wood panel having the grain on at least one of its surfaces masked by a transparent stain, matching the ground color of another wood and having an artificial grain simulating that of another kind of wood superficially applied to such surface and such grained surface having a natural wood appearance of depth and softness.

4. The process of graining wood to simulate the grain of a different wood, which comprises first staining the smooth surface of a selected piece of wood having a grain different from the ultimate grain desired with a transparent stain of a color corresponding to the ground color of the wood it is desired to simulate, then sealing such stained surface to protect the same against ink penetration during the graining process and to enhance the tone thereof, then sanding said surface to render the same receptive of a graining ink applied thereto, and then transferring an ink pattern of the selected grain which it is desired to simulate to such surface by means of an elastic transfer roll to theprepared surface of the wood to be' grained.

5. The method of graining wood, which comprises applying to a planed, level surface of a wood the appearance of the grain of which it is desired to change, a transparent soluble stain corresponding substantially to the ground color 9i the wood, the appearance of which it is desired wood to simulate that of a rarer wood, the steps which consist in staining with a transparent stain the prepared level surface of' a piece of wood whose surface appearance it is desired to alter,,

applying to such stained surface a thin protective coat of shellac in which the coloring ingredients of such stain are soluble, roughening the lacquered surface to render. the same receptive of a graining ink and then transferring to such prepared surface a graining pattern in ink of the grain it is desired to reproduce.

' CHARLES J. FESS. 

